I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an apparatus for releasibly supporting a plurality of fishing lures and more particularly to a supporting substrate from which the lures may be hung which is not destroyed or marred over time by repeated usage.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art
Avid fisherman may spend considerable sums on a watercraft on which their sport is carried. A fisherman will typically have a collection of any where from 5 to 100 or more "favorite lures". Such lures may include plugs or spoons having hooks suspended therefrom and when attempts are made to store such lures in a conventional tackle box, the hooks on the several lures tend to become tangled, making it difficult (and sometimes painful) to pick out a particular lure from the group for subsequent attachment to a fishing line.
It has been a practice of many to suspend lures from their hooks on the carpeting often used to line the floor and side walls of the boat's hull. However, because of the nature of that material, after a relatively short period of such practice, the carpeting tends to become torn and shredded as the hooks are pulled free from the fibers. Thus, to maintain the appearance of the watercraft, it becomes necessary to either recarpet or patch the destroyed area.
I am also aware that others have used a closed cell foam material suspended from the boat's gunwale as a surface on which lures can be hung and temporarily retained until a particular one is selected for use. Each time a lure is removed from such a material, a quantity of the material is plucked off from the surface and it, too, becomes unsightly and subsequetly no longer usable after a relatively short period of use.
It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to provide a fishing lure organizer for use aboard a fishing boat which does not deteriorate over time with repeated usage.
Another object of the invention is to provide a fishing lure organizer made from a material which allows fish hooks to be inserted into it and removed from it many, many times without damage to the material and any appreciable change in its appearance. Still another object of the invention to provide a material from which fishing lures may be suspended by their hooks and which may readily be attached to a convenient and accessible location within a fishing boat.